Sciatica in the Calf

Sciatica in the calf is one of the most common locations to experience
radicular back and leg pain. Symptoms often exist in the rear of the
muscle, but also may exist in the outer side of the muscle in many
cases.

Pain, tingling, weakness and/or numbness may be
unilateral
or
bilateral
and may be completely centered in the calf exclusively or may also affect other anatomical regions in the lower body.

As
is typical for most cases of sciatica, the symptomatic expression is
often highly individualized with every person demonstrating a unique
painful complaint which may or may not make sense from an anatomical
evidence perspective.

Sciatica in the Calf Causes

Nerve issues in the calf related to a spinal causation are usually linked to L5 or S1 concerns, although L4 can be implicated in rare instances.

Many
patients are diagnosed with L5 or S1 nerve compression due to herniated
discs or arthritic osteophytes.

However, in many instances, these
diagnostic theories turn out to be incorrect and the structural issues
located on MRI or CT scan are purely coincidental and asymptomatic.

Remember,
the nerve will have to be definitively compressed in order to elicit
symptoms. This is rarely a verified conclusion in relation to a lumbar
disc issue.

Unfortunately, most patients do not find out the
incorrect nature of the diagnoses until they have tried a variety of
unsuccessful treatments and possibly endured a
failed sciatica surgery
or two.

A bit of proactive research probably would have shown
them the folly in the diagnosis much earlier, since symptoms are usually
far too widespread to be accounted for from a single spinal level nerve
compression issue.

Of course, in some cases, the diagnosis of
nerve compression is correct, symptoms do correlate and treatment should
be successful.

In other cases, there may be another reason for
widespread leg pain concerns to exist, such as higher level central
spinal stenosis affecting the actual spinal cord in the neck or middle
back.

Sciatica in the Calf Anatomy

The calf muscles, along with most other areas of the leg, are certainly innervated by the
sciatic nerve.
Problems which affect the entire sciatic nerve are usually far more
logical as diagnostic theories than single level spinal issues,
particularly when pain exists in large areas of the lower body, without
strictly defined correlating symptoms, such as
foot drop
or loss of reflex.

Piriformis syndrome
is the most common structural theory used to explain widespread sciatic
nerve complaints.

However, although the piriformis may be involved in
the pain, it is almost never the actual causative source. In some
cases, ischemia is to blame, and spasms which result in the piriformis
are a direct result of the oxygen deprivation process. This is a proven
source of pain rarely identified by medical doctors.

Calf pain,
without other sciatica symptoms being present, may be the result of a
localized nerve dysfunction, soft tissue injury, repetitive strain
syndrome or other concern. In rare cases, varicose veins can cause calf
pain, as can the growth of cysts or tumors in the region.

Sciatica in the Calf Synopsis

Sciatica in the calves can be torturous. It can enact charlie horses,
spasms
and weakness in one or both legs, making virtually any position
torturous. I suffered with many bouts of this myself and still get them
on occasion.

Most of my own calf pain comes when I am in bed.
Somehow, reclining always has the possibility of exacerbating my
sciatica suffering. No fun to be sure.

As always, I recommend
that patients with defined patterns of pain read more about their
diagnoses and look for any inconsistencies which may explain why
treatment has not helped.

Patients without defined or
explained pain patterns need to go one step beyond, since they often do
not even have a working diagnostic therapy in place.

When it comes down to it, the chances of finding a cure are almost zero, unless a successful and accurate
diagnosis
is made first.